Process Flexibility of Soprtion-enhanced Steam Reforming for Hydrogen Production from Gas Mixtures Representative of Biomass-derived Syngas

Hydrogen is a critical enabler of CO2 valorization, essential for the synthesis of carbon-neutral fuels such as efuels and advanced biofuels. Biohydrogen, produced from renewable biomass, is a stable and dispatchable source of low-carbon hydrogen, helping to address supply fluctuations caused by the intermittency of renewable electricity and the limited availability of electrolytic hydrogen. This study experimentally demonstrates that sorption-enhanced steam reforming (SESR) is a robust and adaptable process for hydrogen production from biomass-derived syngas-like gas streams. By incorporating in situ CO2 capture, SESR overcomes the thermodynamic limits of conventional reforming, achieving high hydrogen yields (>96 %) and purities (up to 99.8 vol%) across a wide range of syngas compositions. The process maintains high conversion efficiency despite variations in CO, CH4, and CO2 concentrations, and sustains performance even with H2-rich feeds, conditions that typically inhibit reforming reactions. Among the operating parameters, temperature has the greatest influence on performance, followed by the steam-to-carbon ratio and space velocity. Multi-objective optimization shows that SESR can maintain high hydrogen yield (>96 %), selectivity (>99 %), and purity (>99.5 vol%) within a moderately flexible operating window. Methane reforming is identified as the main performance-limiting step, with a stronger constraint on H2 yield and purity than CO conversion through the water–gas shift reaction. In addition to hydrogen, SESR produces a concentrated CO2 stream suitable for downstream utilization or storage. These results support the potential of SESR as a flexible and efficient approach for hydrogen production from heterogeneous renewable feedstocks.